Buddy Nix steps down as Bills G.M.

When the Bills extended the contract of Assistant General Manager Doug Whaley in February, team president Russ Brandon said that the team had no timetable for a transition that would elevate Whaley to the top job while Buddy Nix moved out of the way.

They better have one now because Nix is no longer the team’s general manager. The Bills announced Monday that Nix has stepped down from that job and will now move to a job as a special assistant to the team’s next general manager.

Nix worked for the Bills when John Butler was running the show in the 1990s and then went to San Diego with Butler and A.J. Smith in 2000. He returned to Buffalo as a scout in 2009 and then became general manager of the team later that year. In a statement, Nix said that he believes it is the right time to step away because he has left the team with a “good young roster with excellent head coach and staff.”

The team hasn’t confirmed that he will be assisting Whaley, although all signs have pointed to him replacing Nix since Whaley joined the team in 2010. Nix’s departure wasn’t a surprise — he’s 73 years old, after all — so the Bills probably already have the succession worked out. There will be a press conference in Buffalo on Monday where we imagine there will be further information about what’s next in the team’s front office.